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Butterfly and Wildlife Gardening And Photography In Houston TexasTue, 24 Feb 2015 01:43:15 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Gulf Fritillary Butterfly On Purple Lantanahttp://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/2013/01/26/gulf-fritillary-butterfly-on-purple-lantana/
http://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/2013/01/26/gulf-fritillary-butterfly-on-purple-lantana/#commentsSun, 27 Jan 2013 03:36:06 +0000http://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/?p=94082011 was such a devastating year for the Gulf Fritillary Butterfly, at least in my backyard. The drought was so bad I think it affected many Butterflies, but in terms of normal abundance, this species was hit pretty hard. Fast forward to 2012, and now January 2013 and these Butterflies have really made a comeback. I still have some Chrysalises around the yard waiting to hatch and as long as these temperatures remain in the 60’s to 70’s, these creatures are the first ones taking flight in the morning. This purple plant, the Trailing Purple Lantana, has stayed in bloom all winter. It covers most of the area behind my pool, and all species of Butterflies are grateful.

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly On Purple Lantana

]]>http://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/2013/01/26/gulf-fritillary-butterfly-on-purple-lantana/feed/1Fiery Skipper, American Painted Lady, and Red Admiral Butterflieshttp://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/2011/10/03/fiery-skipper-american-painted-lady-and-red-admiral-butterflies/
http://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/2011/10/03/fiery-skipper-american-painted-lady-and-red-admiral-butterflies/#commentsTue, 04 Oct 2011 02:51:19 +0000http://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/?p=7883I had quite a few Butterflies in the backyard today, much more so than normal. The Zinnia garden is attracting many insects including Honeybees, Carpenter Bees, and of course, Butterflies. The Lantana also appears to be a Butterfly favorite.

This is an American Painted Lady on a Red Zinnia flower.

American Painted Lady Butterfly On Red Zinnia

Although I’ve seen them in the backyard before, I don’t believe I’ve ever taken a picture of the Red Admiral Butterfly. This one was really drawn to the Lantana, and from the looks of the hind wings, it looks like it’s seen better days.

Red Admiral On Lantana

Red Admiral Butterfly On Old Purple Coneflower

Last, but not least is a Fiery Skipper Butterfly. These things are always a challenge to photograph as they don’t stay in one place for very long.

Strangely enough, we have quite a few Monarch Butterflies right now. We’ve been releasing 1-2 Monarchs per day for the last couple of weeks. In a way, this makes some sense. In October and November, the Monarchs we saw were likely migrating to Mexico and had not yet mated. The Monarch Butterflies we are seeing right now have definitely mated, and are laying lots of eggs. As we find the Caterpillars, we bring them inside and give them fresh Milkweed. Could these just be local Monarchs that spend much of their time in the warmer climates? They definitely don’t appear to be as worn as the October/November Monarchs were. Another little interesting tidbit. The majority of the Monarchs that we have been releasing have been female. I’d say the ratio is like 3:1.

Right now we have 2 female Monarchs that we should be able to release tomorrow, and there’s a good chance another 2-3 will become Butterflies by morning.

We also have several Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars, Chrysalises, and Butterflies. We haven’t been bringing in as many Caterpillars from this species inside as they tend to hide a bit better than the Monarchs (at least in our yard).

We’ve had a few days of below freezing temperatures, but not for very long (typical of Houston). We have been covering much of our outdoor Milkweed with a clear shower curtain (Leecy’s idea) and that appears to give the Milkweed sufficient light, protects them from frost, and also serves as a nice bit of insulation.

Fortunately for the Butterflies, we still have quite a few Nectar plants (Lantana, Milkweed, Penta, Mexican Flame Vine) that have been providing the necessary food that these insects require.

This upcoming week is also Christmas! Leecy says she doesn’t want anything for Christmas and wants to do something for a needy family so we’re going shopping tomorrow to buy some presents for whomever we decide to give them to. There is a family we are thinking about that have 3 kids, so we talked about buying 3 bikes for them. My idea is just do drop the bikes off during Christmas Eve night and let them think it’s from Santa. I’d prefer they not know they were from Leecy and I.

Also this upcoming week I’ll be receiving my rented Canon 300mm f2.8 lens. I’m really looking forward to shooting with this lens. If I like it, and I don’t end up taking that trip to Mexico, I’ll probably end up buying one early next year.

That’s about it on this end. I’m going to try and take some pictures of the Monarch Butterflies that we’ll release tomorrow so check back if you’re interested in seeing the pictures.

]]>http://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/2010/12/17/december-2010-monarch-butterfly-garden-update/feed/0Gulf Fritillary Butterflies On Purple Lantanahttp://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/2010/12/04/gulf-fritillary-butterflies-on-purple-lantana/
http://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/2010/12/04/gulf-fritillary-butterflies-on-purple-lantana/#commentsSun, 05 Dec 2010 05:20:41 +0000http://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/?p=5951In addition to the Monarchs, the Gulf Fritillary Butterflies are taking advantage of the warm weather and laying eggs and getting nectar from the Trailing Purple Lantana. I’m not sure how long this plant is supposed to stay in bloom, but it is really doing well.

Gulf Fritillary On Purple Lantana

]]>http://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/2010/12/04/gulf-fritillary-butterflies-on-purple-lantana/feed/0Updated Butterfly Gardenhttp://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/2010/02/20/updated-butterfly-garden/
http://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/2010/02/20/updated-butterfly-garden/#commentsSun, 21 Feb 2010 04:00:42 +0000http://www.butterfliesandwildlife.com/?p=3448I couldn’t stand it any longer. Although there is a chance of freezing weather this week, I just had to go buy some new plants. I’ve been tired of looking in the backyard and seeing nothing but brown.

Oh, and before I forget, I also bought 45 bags of hardwood mulch, 20 bags of potting soil, and 1 triple layer bird bath.

In case you’re wondering, my back, legs, and arm are killing me:-).

I’m including some pictures so y’all can see what my backyard looks like in the very beginning of the season as well as what some of these plants look like.

Below is a picture of my cigar plant as a result of the very cold winter. This is probably my favorite plant for Butterfly Gardening as Hummingbirds, Bees, and Butterflies all love this plant (at least when it doesn’t look like this).

Freeze Damaged Cigar Plant

Here is a picture of the new Cigar Plant I planted today.

Cigar Plant 2010

Below is some of my Milkweed that was outdoors all Winter, and obviously freeze damaged.

Freeze Damaged Milkweed

Here’s a picture of my Milkweed that we would take indoors when it got below freezing.

Bunch Of Mexican Milkweed

And here’s some Milkweed I bought from Joshua’s Native Plants (some of the lushest Milkweed I’ve ever seen). I couldn’t fit all of the Milkweed into the Butterfly cage. I’m hopefully protecting these new plants from Aphids which are all over the Milkweed in the picture above.

Lush Milkweed And Butterfly Cage

Leecy planted a bunch of Herbs in our garden. Many of these Herbs also serve as host plants for Butterflies. In a few months you probably won’t even be able to see the pool in the background as many of these plants become quite large.

View Of Garden 2010

Here’s a picture of the Rose Garden, Bird Feeders, and my new triple layer Bird Bath. The birds seemed a little nervous about the new Bird Bath, but hopefully they’ll adjust. By the way, most of the Roses are antique Roses, and none of them had any damage this Winter.

Triple Layer Bird Bath And Rose Garden

I was going to post pictures of some of the individual plants, but instead will just post a picture of how the “nectar” section of the Butterfly Garden looks right now. I can list the individual plants in this section if folks are interested.